| A | B |
|---|
| limiting factor | condition that restricts a population's growth, such as space, disease and food availability |
| carrying capacity | number of organisms in a population that an environment can maintain |
| niche | role an organism plays in its habitat |
| predation | interaction in which one organism consumes another |
| symbiotic relationship | close interaction between species in which one species lives in or on the other |
| parasitism | relationship in which a parasitic organism obtains its food at the expense of a host organism |
| mutualism | type of symbiotic relationship in which both organisms involved benefit |
| commensalism | symbiotic relationship in which one organisms benefits, while the other organism is neither harmed nor helped |
| introduced species | species moved by humans to new geographic areas, either intentionally or accidentally |
| cooperation | when two or more organisms work together for food, raise its young and defend the group |
| competition | when two or more organisms struggle for limited resources |
| predator | animal that kills another for food |
| prey | animal that is killed for another's food source |
| biotic | living factor in an ecosystem |
| abiotic | non living factor in an ecosystem |
| ecosystem | living and non living factors interacting |
| community | different populations together in a specific area |
| population | two or more of the same species in the same area |
| organism | an individual living thing |
| biome | the most complex level of our biosphere |
| food web | a feeding relationship where many food chains that consist of many producers and consumers that overlap in an ecosystem. |
| food chain | a feeding that relationship that is a single chain of one producer and one consumer at each level in an ecosystem. |
| energy pyramid | a model that shows the amount of energy available at each trophic level. |
| producer | organism that makes its own food using materials and energy from the sun. |
| consumer | organism that eats another organism for its energy. |
| decomposer | organism that breaks down dead organic material to a simpler form. |
| habitat | the place where an organism lives and gets its needs met. |
| species | organisms that are so similar that they can produce off-spring that can also produce off-spring |
| ecology | study of organisms and their interactions with their environment |
